AIBU

[Scottishdancer]

I am fairly new to this board, but I have had some good advice, so thought I would see what others think of this.
Ds4(9) has dyspraxia, dyslexia, speech and Lang problems and sensory processing disorder ( we are waiting for an assessment for Asd). He has a statement for 20 hours. Progress at school is very slow and he is struggling with his anxieties. School have said his anxiety is a barrier to learning. At Easter a new child started in his class with medical problems. His lsa was then used to support her as well, meaning ds was left for half an hour 3 times a day, including during literacy, and she could be called away at any point during the day if other child is unwell. Ds is not coping well with this as he is constantly waiting for his support to disappear and can't concentrate on anything. He is still on a level 1c for his writing and going into yr 5!. It has taken him until this far into the holidays to start to relax and is already worrying about going back .we have spoken to the school but they said they can do what they like with their staff and it is not for parents to direct. Also lsa not trained in any of ds problems. Wwyd?

If he has a statement stating 20 hours 1 to 1 support then he is to have it :)

Read through the statement again .

If it just says DS will have 20hours lsa support then there is a loophole for the school to say they can do this as if they wanted to they could just make sure there was 1 lsa in the whole class for 20 hours and get away with that.

If its the first line of my post then email the LA and state that after discussion with the school you feel that his statement of needs is not being fully met. State why and request a reply to your email.

It is the LAs responsibility to ensure a statement is being followed through as it is them that are in breach of it.

If his statement says 1:1 TA (as opposed to shared or small groups etc) then school is being v. naughty. Put your concerns in writing to the HT & LA and ask for an urgent meeting in the first week of term to ensure that DS's provision is "adequate for him to access the curriulum." At the meeting make it VERY clear that you will take it higher (early statement review, tribunal etc, letter to MP) if your child's needs continue to be ignored.

It sounds v. selfish but you have to put your own kid first and let the other child's parents fight their own battles .

Statement says some 1 to 1 support and some in small groups, but doesn't' say how much of each. Have spoken to LA but school mislead them saying he is still getting 20 hours, but some of that was in PE to cover what they had taken away from literacy!!

Ok so what school are saying is that he is getting 20 hours.

So its the unpredictability that your DS is struggling with not knowing if he is going to lose his support or not and so is struggling to learn due to anxiety.

Is it possible to ask the LA to arrange a meeting with them and the school and perhaps discuss this? Is it possible to request that the school are more structured on when he does and doesnt have the LSA support? You could say you feel literacy is far more important due to your ds still having writing issues.

Perhaps put the suggestion that a timetable is drawn up that your DS can understand when and where things are happening and that the school stick to it to lessen his anxiety of the unnexpected? Silly school......

I would still email the LA saying that you feel the statement hours are not being adhered to or at the very least more structure is needed for your DS to cope with losing his lsa and request a meeting to discuss it with them and the school to help sort your concerns out regarding your ds educational objectives and statement.

There's a sample letter on www.ipsea.org showing you how to complain to the LA when they are not delivering the support that the Statement demands they do.

When is your annual review due?

1c in writing is totally unacceptable for going into Y5. I would say that if he has not made quantifiable progress within...... (at least 2 sub levels per year, so get the levels he was at end of Y3 to check) that the 20 hours of which too much is in small group work is not working and that they will need to revise their interventions to ensure that his progress meets the expected government level.
I would also check what specific interventions are in place for your DS re writing. How much 1-1 time and what programmes he is working on. How much progress has he been making on the programme, what alternatives are there, who is providing this training, have they had relevant training etc. You need to make sure that even if your son does get more 1-1 out of any meeting, that it is qualitative time not just quantative.

Annual review was in April and we said then that we were very unhappy with progress (1 sub level per year for last 3 years!!) but they said that was to be expected and that is why he has statement!!!.we are very unhappy but school won't listen! People working with him have no training or experience. I could do job better myself!!

Just off out, but I would be asking them to define what 'to be expected' means. If it is not an acceptable rate of progression - which it is not, I would be saying that there needed to be a LEA review as to why the statement was not working - which we know - as the school are not making the hours that you have 'work' for your DS by using untrained staff for 'flexible hours'.
Have a read of the SENCoP and quote directly from it. Although it is only a guide, much of it is so that schools don't fall foul of their legal duties of care. You will find suitable quotes in there for progress and attainment, training etc.
If nothing else, it might make the school more aware that you know your rights and their duties and therefore less likely to mess around with your DS's support.